Lawyer Sues District Attorney

MINEOLA, N.Y. — A district attorney elected last fall on a promise to limit plea bargains is being sued by a defense attorney who claims the prosecutor’s new policies on DWI cases are unconstitutional.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said she is not backing away from the changes, which include the creation of a separate courtroom for DWI cases. She also wants permanent criminal records for first-time offenders convicted of having a blood-alcohol level of 0.13 percent or more. The legal limit in the state is 0.08 percent.

Rice has also stiffened her office’s approach to plea deals, insisting she has the final word on sentences, not the judge.

Attorney Thomas Liotti on Monday filed a show-cause order for his client _ a St. John’s University student charged in May with misdemeanor drunken driving _ claiming the student will not be treated fairly under Rice’s policies.

Rice, however, dismissed the lawsuit as frivolous.

“I’m actually quite proud of the fact that drunk drivers are treated more harshly here in Nassau County than anywhere else in the state,” she said. She said in the past, first time DWI offenders were given the equivalent of a traffic ticket.

“That is why drunk driving is an epidemic in Nassau County,” she said. “I will stand with the victims of drunk driving, with the families of the victims of drunk driving who say ‘enough is enough.’

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